Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The animals
were atwitter. The final night of Disrupt! Barnyard was about to start.

Rooster was
nervous. He had been asked to judge but felt out of
place. Last year's winner of the business plan contest had been an app that reminded
cows to chew their cuds. Rooster knew more than he cared to about cows,
but he was pretty sure he couldn't have dreamed up that business in a million
years.

Fortunately,
Horse and Big Pig were also judges. Horse had written a thousand articles
about tech and knew his stuff. Pig had made his name last year
investing with two ducks in an ethanol plant. ("Corn wants to eat
the world" had become an important investment thesis at Big Pig's firm.) Maybe Rooster
would luck out and one of the final plans would involve corn.

Black Rat was
up first. The crowd settled back, ready to be dazzled. "Hello
everyone." Rat looked nervous. The crowd cheered, even the
crows in back who could be counted on for a heckle or two as the night went on.
"I am a serial entrepreneur and tonight..."

Rooster
stopped listening. "Serial entrepreneur?" he whispered to Horse
and Big Pig. It didn't seem that long ago he had been chasing Rat out of
the shed with the fermented corn feed crumble.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Horse sauntered across the barnyard, heading toward the pig pen. He had a clipboard strung around his neck and a stick tucked behind an ear, just like he'd seen the farmer do with his pencil. The three pigs were rooting around in the mud for scraps, discussing an app they'd been pitched yesterday that reminded cows to chew their cuds.

"I really liked the team's focus," Middle Pig offered. "But is the service a must-have or only a nice-to-have? We are talking about cows, after all."

Just then Horse swung his head over the pit. "May I have a word?" He was the slightest bit hesitant. The pigs had a well-earned reputation for being difficult.

The three barely paused, obviously irritated with the interruption. They didn't have much use for the horse, who had, in the six months they had known him, never brought them so much as a rancid corn cob, much less a killer social media app.

"This is about celebrity," Horse added.

This brought the rooting to a sudden halt. Celebrity was one of the few things besides slop (and killer social media apps) that could get the pigs' attention. Horse knew his business.